Diseased bison in Wood Buffalo National Park could be exposing
Alberta’s cattle herd to brucellosis and tuberculosis.
“These bison affect every cattle producer in Alberta,” said Cec Jardine
during the Alberta Cattle Commission annual meeting in Calgary last
month.
Almost all of that bison herd is infected with brucellosis and
tuberculosis. Canadian cattle are free of these diseases.
The commission passed a resolution asking Ottawa and the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency to eliminate the herd and rebuild it with healthy
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animals.
Guy Fontaine of Bonnyville, Alta., said the park buffalo are an ongoing
concern for northern cattle producers who have been fighting over this
for 20 years with Parks Canada and native people who do not want the
animals destroyed.
“The federal government should indeed be involved. If nothing else, the
resolution will be there to remind them not to be passive,” he said.
The federal government is aware of the issue, said Arno Doerksen, chair
of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association animal health committee.
“There is agreement among the CFIA scientists and veterinarians … on
the threat the bison at Wood Buffalo Park present to us.”
Provincial veterinarian Cornelia Kreplin said officials are pushing for
research to document the threat the diseased animals present to cattle
and bison producers outside the park. The bison sometimes wander
outside park boundaries and could come into contact with other animals
and spread the disease.
